IAEMSarah Miller, CEM, chair of the IAEM-USA Emerging Technology Caucus (ETC) and a certified cybersecurity manager, will lead the discussion at the IAEM 2018 Thursday Learning Webinar, “Cybersecurity 101: Understanding Basic Threats and Preventions,” today (July 19, 2018), 1:00-2:00 p.m. EDT. The webinar is hosted by the IAEM-USA ETC. Cybersecurity threats surround us, with new incidents occurring daily. What does that mean for you as an emergency manager? Join us to learn about attacks that can happen to your organization (and may already have) and basic measures you can take right now to prevent them. This session is basic in nature and is designed for any size emergency management organization, from any sector. Register online.

IAEMCome early to the IAEM Annual Conference, and join other attendees for an Oct. 20 tour of Spectrum Health’s three hospitals located in downtown Grand Rapids. The tour will include Spectrum Health’s headquarters for emergency management. The tour will feature clinical areas of each of the three hospitals (Butterworth, Meijer Heart Center, and Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital) and its fully dedicated System Command Center. Members of the emergency management team will meet with participants and demonstrate how this healthcare system is at the leading edge of organizational situation management. Spectrum Health is comprised of 12 hospitals, 180 ambulatory sites, and more than 26,000 employees in western Michigan. It was named one of the nation’s 15 Top Health Systems—and in the top five among the largest health systems. Learn more about this special tour and register for the conference on the conference website.

StateScoopThe 35-mph-winds and several inches of rain Tropical Storm Beryl brought to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands last week were puny compared to the storms that battered them in 2017. But Beryl was still enough to show that the Caribbean's infrastructure and residents are still recovering from the devastation wrought last year by Irma and Maria and that they may not be ready to weather the stronger storms expected to arrive later this summer.READ MORE

IAEMOn July 18, 2018, the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure conducted a subcommittee hearing titled "Are We Ready? Recovering from the 2017 Disasters and Preparing for the 2018 Hurricane Season." Mistie Gardner, CEM, emergency management coordinator, Richardson, Texas, testified on behalf of IAEM. She was joined at the witness table by: Jeffrey Byard, associate administrator, Office of Response and Recovery, FEMA; Charles “Ray” Alexander, director of Contingency Operations and chief of the Office of Homeland Security, United States Army Corps of Engineers; Patrick Sheehan, director, Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, on behalf of the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA); and The Honorable R. David Paulison, former FEMA administrator, on behalf of the BuildStrong Coalition. Read Ms. Gardner’s written testimony.

IAEMThe Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on July 13 released the 2017 Hurricane Season FEMA After-Action Report. The report examines the agency’s performance during the record-breaking season. Last year, hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria devastated the United States at a time when FEMA was already supporting 692 federally declared disasters. During response to the three catastrophic hurricanes, FEMA also responded to wildfires in California. The report captures transformative insights from a historic hurricane season that will help FEMA, the emergency management community, and the nation chart the path into the future. FEMA has incorporated many of the findings from this report into its 2018-2022 Strategic Plan, which will guide implementation of long-term goals to build a more prepared and resilient nation.

IAEMFEMA this week announced the selectees for the 2018-2019 Youth Preparedness Council. The Youth Preparedness Council was created in 2012 to bring together young leaders from across the country who are interested in supporting disaster preparedness and making a difference in their communities, by completing disaster preparedness projects to fit their community’s needs. This year marks the sixth year of the council. FEMA selected the seven new members of the council based on their dedication to public service, community involvement, and potential to expand their impact as national supporters for youth preparedness.

IAEMIAEM Headquarters is maintaining a list of IAEM members who have a current student membership and wish to be considered for a student registration fee stipend in the amount of $310 (early bird rate) which can be used towards either the IAEM Annual Conference registration fee or to help support travel expenses to attend the IAEM 2018 Annual Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Students should email their interest to be considered for the registration fee stipend lottery to IAEM Membership Manager Sharon Kelly at info@iaem.com no later than Monday, Aug. 20, 2018, along with the following information: your name, your complete contact information, and the university that you are attending.

Homeland Security TodayRegardless of their time, place or circumstance, crises show character. In the worst of moments, people either rise to the occasion or fall prey to it. Nowhere has this been on better display than in Thailand, where the rescue efforts brought a youth soccer team and their coach from the depths of a remote, flooded rocky cave. READ MORE

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Phys.orgIn early November 2017, Brooks Fisher's neighbor in Sonoma, California, pounded on his door at 2 a.m., rang the doorbell and shouted, "There's a fire coming and you need to get out now! I can hear trees exploding!"
The sky was orange and the smell of smoke was strong. Fisher and his wife jumped in their car and drove out as flames engulfed houses on both sides of the road. Brooks called 911: The dispatcher told him she already had reports of fires on Rollo Road, but he and his wife saw no official responders.
READ MORE

The NationNASA’s fleet of hurricane-hunting satellites could be fully operational as early as next year.
The space agency is currently testing a new system that uses eight mini-satellites to better predict the power of deadly storms long before they strike land.
Current tracking technology is adept at forecasting the path of hurricanes, but lacks the capacity to accurately gauge their intensity.READ MORE

IAEMFEMA’s National Integration Center and the FEMA Emergency Management Institute have announced the release of the revised course, “IS-900.a, National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF) Overview.” The course provides an introduction to the NDRF and establishes a common platform and forum for how the whole community builds, sustains, and coordinates delivery of recovery capabilities. The NDRF provides individuals supporting disaster recovery efforts with a foundation in NDRF key concepts, guiding principles, and roles and responsibilities of NDRF leadership, including those of individuals, households and governmental entities at the local, state, tribal and federal levels, and between public, private and nonprofit sectors. The revised course is available through the EMI website. An additional 28 NIMS curriculum courses are in final revision status and will be available as they are completed and approved for release.

IAEMThe U.S. Secret Service recently released “Enhancing School Safety Using a Threat Assessment Model: An Operational Guide for Preventing Targeted School Violence,” that provides actionable steps that schools can take to develop comprehensive targeted violence prevention plans for conducting threat assessments. The goal of a school-based threat assessment is to identify students of concern, assess their risk for engaging in violence or other harmful activities, and identify intervention strategies to manage that risk. This process begins with establishing a comprehensive targeted violence prevention plan. The U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC), a component of the agency that conducts research, training, consultation, and information sharing on threat assessment and the prevention of targeted violence, developed the guide. NTAC publications are available online.

IAEMThe Pew Charitable Trusts will its presentation on What Do States Spend on Natural Disasters? on July 25, 2018, 8:30-10:30 a.m. EDT. Government spending on natural disasters is on the rise, with FEMA’s disaster assistance program recording eight of its most expensive years from 2007 to 2016. While Congress is considering ways to control rising costs, they are doing so without comprehensive data on the contributions made by state governments. To help inform federal efforts, Pew is hosting this discussion about how comprehensive tracking of state expenditures could help all levels of government more effectively manage the growth in natural disaster spending. Register for the webcast here.

IAEMJoin Governing, Government Technology and Emergency Management for a one-of-a-kind, special issue Summit on Crisis Management, to be held at the Mayflower Hotel (Autograph Collection), 1127 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC. The nation’s recent spate of natural and man-made disasters serves as a poignant reminder that crisis management is a complex and dynamic set of challenges – and an increasingly acute concern to state and local officials. To address these concerns, the summit will bring together top officials, leading issue experts, and industry partners who support government resiliency, emergency planning and mitigation efforts. State and local elected officials and agency directors, as well as public safety leaders will share lessons learned from having led their communities through crises. The program will offer tactical and strategic advice, and the tools to inform leadership decisions well before a crisis - as well as when disaster strikes. Keynote speakers are Daniel Kaniewski, Ph.D., deputy administrator, Protection and National Preparedness, FEMA; and Dr. Stephen Flynn, founding director, Global Resilience Institute, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts. Visit the event site for a detailed agenda and online registration.READ MORE

IAEMThe 2018 Asia Risk and Resilience Conference (ARRC), “Corporate Governance, Risk, and Resilience: Planning in Action,” will take place Aug. 29-31, 2018, at the Hilton in Singapore. The event is co-organized by IAEM, BCP ASIA, and RIMAS. Rebranded from the 13-year running Asia Business Continuity Conference, the ARRC is a premier regional networking and knowledge-sharing platform for industry representatives and professionals from around the world to further their knowledge and get to know the trends in business continuity management, emergency management, enterprise risk management, and resiliency, as well as other related areas such as crisis management, disaster recovery, terrorism, and cybersecurity. Delegates come from Asian markets such as Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, and Taiwan.

Homeland Security News WireIn the aftermath of 2017’s devastating Atlantic hurricane season, and of Hurricane Maria in particular, the lessons learned in emergency response planning and recovery have been a central focus for agencies, contractors and utilities supporting the recovery in Puerto Rico. The 2018 Resilience Week Conference, which will be held August 20-23 in Denver, Colorado, aims to facilitate more inter-agency conversation on the subject of resilience.READ MORE

MizzimaLocal people from Lonekhin village-tracts said that about 100 Yaymasay jade miners (rag picker miners from waste earth dumpsites) were feared dead in a landslide which occurred near west of Sankha village, Longkhin village tracts, Phakant Township, Kachin State, yesterday.
Local resident Thaung Wai said that about 200 Yaymasay miners were searching and picking up jade when the landslide took place at about 2 p.m. on July 14.READ MORE

Al DiaThe death toll from the eruption of Fuego volcano on June 3 has risen to 116, the National Coordination for Disaster Reduction of Guatemala announced.
Three new victims identified by the Guatemalan National Institute of Forensic Sciences are on the list of the missing, and hence the total toll stands at 116 deaths and 302 missing, agency spokesperson David de Leon said.READ MORE

Japan TimesAt least 270 elementary and junior high schools were damaged by floods and mudslides earlier this month caused by torrential rain, the education ministry said Tuesday.
The western prefectures of Okayama, Hiroshima and Ehime — where most of the more than 200 deaths occurred in the disasters — reported that around 150 schools had closed, with many unable to resume classes, according to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.READ MORE

USA TodayOne person was seriously injured and 22 others hurt after a "lava bomb" hit a tour boat near the Kilauea volcano on Hawaii's Big Island, according to emergency officials.
Molten rock running into the ocean exploded and threw chunks of lava onto the Lava Ocean Tours boat, smashing a basketball-size hole through the boat's roof and raining smaller rocks onto the decking. READ MORE